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AVOIDABLE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISITS ARE COSTING CONSUMERS MILLIONS
Recent data shows that consumers may save money by avoiding visits
to emergency departments for care that can be provided in lower-cost settings,
such as a physician's office. UnitedHealth
Group reported that hospital emergency department costs were 12 times
higher than at a physician office and ten times higher than at an urgent care
center, according to 2018 data.
In Virginia, the latest
figures collected by VHI show a potential savings of $100 million when
comparing the total cost for avoidable emergency department visits and the
total cost for similar care by a primary care practitioner (PCP). Using data
from the Virginia All Payer Claims
Database, VHI identified that about 14% of the analyzed 1.5 million emergency
department visits could have been avoided and treated with lower cost care in a
PCP's office in 2017.
Have you been visiting the emergency department for any of
the commonly avoidable categories in your region? Take a look and see.
We created an interactive dashboard that allows you to organize the data by
region, county and insurance type. You'll also see information on the rates of
the potentially avoidable categories based on how you decide to organize the
data. Respiratory infections and urinary tract infections make up over half of
the avoidable visits in emergency departments in every region in the
Commonwealth. Depending on the region, ear infections, back problems and
headaches were the next avoidable categories with the most visits.
Take advantage of our free, online resources to help you
make better informed healthcare decisions. Visit www.vhi.org
for more.
Stay healthy, Virginia!